Rotorua's Geyser City Cricket Club members finally got to admire the 2019/20 New Zealand Cricket ‘Club of the Year' trophy, which they were awarded at the NZ Cricket virtual awards.

Bay of Plenty Cricket held a presentation of the prestigious NZC award at the Bay Oval at Mount Maunganui last Sunday.

More than 30 club members, including many junior players, travelled over for the occasion from the Sulphur City.

On hand to help Geyser City celebrate the occasion was Black Cap Captain Kane Williamson, who won the NZC ODI Player of the Year at the NZ Cricket 2020 virtual prize-giving.

The Black Cap skipper was in sensational form at the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup hammering 578 runs, at an incredible average of 82, which included two centuries.

Williamson was selected as the 2019 World Cup Player of the tournament and was also chosen in the ICC ODI Team of the Year.

Kane Williamson signing Freya Lloyd's miniature bat.

Geyser City Cricket Club received endorsement for their forward thinking and planning in recent seasons, with the presentation of the NZC Club of the Year Award.

The NZ Cricket awards release says "the creation of a new, all weather, anytime training facility and the concurrent partnership with Western Heights High School and John Paul College, has helped provide the Geyser City Cricket Club access to all ages in the wider Rotorua cricket community".

'In the last season, Geyser also created a new professional coaching program not only for its members, but also for a number of local schools with hundreds of students participating in the program.

"In addition, they have acquired portable wickets to allow cricket to effectively be played anywhere, anytime and enjoyed by everyone."

On the day, Bay of Plenty Cricket announced the award and highlighted the Geyser City Cricket achievements over the near three decades since the club was established in 1991.

Kane Williamson was then called upon to present the award to the President of the Geyser City Cricket Club, Kane Vanner.

Geyser City CC with Kane Williamson at NZC award presentation.

'We are hugely appreciative of receiving this award, and given the very challenging time we have all been through in recent months, it's really nice to be able to get to actually celebrate this, and having Kane here is just exceptional," says Vanner.

"I'm sure many of the people here today will remember this for a very long time.

'Although the club has been around for many years, we are really on a new journey aiming to create a more modern pathway for all players to play at any level they are keen to reach.

"We certainly would not classify ourselves as the finished article and still see a considerable amount of work needing to be done in the Rotorua cricket space.

'This coming season we will continue to look to grow our junior numbers, but will be also focussing on growing our volunteer base and seeking to implement the processes and support needed to assist them."

In terms of long term aspirations, Vanner says one goal they would love to achieve would be to have played a hand in the generation of a Black Cap player.

He says this would be a significant achievement for Rotorua and proof that structures underneath are working.

'To our knowledge, Rotorua has never produced a player that has originated, played, and grown through Rotorua's pathway to make it to the Blackcaps.

"Trent Boult and Daniel Flynn were born in our city but both moved to Tauranga at an early age."

The Geyser City President went on to say that Rotorua Cricket is very much in a rebuilding phase, of which Geyser is only one of the contributing parties.

"The RCA has a good team on board now, who have set some great direction and long time clubs like Geyser and Central Cricket among others, were on board working hard to make Rotorua Cricket strong.

"To rebuild and maintain a strong cricket community in the modern era requires a lot of new thinking and this group of organisations is working hard together to achieve this.

Paul Wiley, the Chairman of the Rotorua Cricket Associated, added to that sentiment saying 'we have a long way to go but are just starting to see some of the fruits of our efforts. Awards like this one for the Geyser club show we are definitely on the right track”.

Kane Williamson presenting Kane Vanner with the NZC Club of the Year award.